In my post on the Cozy/Astro Theater, the listed Victor Clothing Company/Hosfield Building, at 242 S Broadway, can be seen in the background of the last image, which got me curious about its history.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tovangar2
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I'm always intrigued by the buildings that
aren't demolished, and the randomness of that. (The Bank of Italy Building and the Amesoy come to mind. They lasted
much longer than
all their contemporary neighbors.)
Built 1914-1918, during WWI, originally slotted in between two much grander structures (City Hall and the Rindge Block), The Hosfield was designed by architects Robert Train and Robert Edmund Williams (they also did the
Judson Studios). The building now is all-but-free-standing. As
JScott relates, the Hosfield was leased by the city as an annex for City Hall, which had outgrown its space (there was already a purpose-built annex north of old City Hall). Before that happened, various oil companies had offices there.
1921 Baist Map. The Douglas Building and the Hosfield (plus the bones of the Rindge Block's ground floor - the top two floors were removed in 1967) are still holding down the block:
historicmapworks
Top-hat-wearing, opera-singing-on-the-sidewalk Leo "Sunshine" Fanarow opened
The Victor Clothing Company on the Fourth of July 1920 two doors
north of the City Hall annex in the Crocker Building (the Rainbow Room in the basement was a favorite Fanarow party venue), on the other side of the original 1906 Pig & Whistle . Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor and Carmen Miranda were said to be Victor customers. A great three-story blade sign picked out "Victor Clothing" in lights. Here in 1926:
uscdl (detail)
A closer view of the the Victor Clothing Company's first location, n.d.:
lapl
It wasn't until 1964, 44 years later, when the LA Times bought the whole north end of the block for parking, that the Victor Clothing Company moved into the Hosfield. They stayed 37 years, until the company closed in 2001. The building was then rehabbed for low-cost housing, opening as Victor Clothing Apartments in 2005. It's managed by
Neighborhood Effort.
1964. Victor Clothing Company has completed its move from the Crocker Building to the Hosfield:
eBay. previously posted by e_r (detail)
The north wall. The mural "El Nuevo Fuego" by
East Los Streetscapers (1985) is in the foreground:
gsv
Carlos Ortiz commissioned
Kent Twitchell to paint "Bride and Groom" to celebrate his second-floor shop, Monarch Bridal (Ortiz was the model for the groom). Here circa 1974.
The Douglas on the left. The Washington Building (311 N Spring) is peeking over the rooftops. The Bradbury is at right:
lapl
"Bride and Groom" latex and acrylic (1972-1976)
Kent Twitchell:
grconnect
The Los Angeles Times opted to turn part of their surface parking lot into a structure, somewhat limiting the view of "Bride and Groom":
lapl Dean Musgrove 1988
The west-facing facade:
ohp
At twilight:
flickr
gsv
Facade detail:
gsv
Cornice:
gsv
The southern exposure: 1994.
Frank Romero's mural, "Nino y Caballo" (1984) is on the left.
Eloy Torrez painted the
Anthony Quinn mural,
"Pope of Broadway", in 1984. He's been hired recently to
restore it:
wikimapia Anthony Friedkin
lapl
Eloy Torrez' Quinn with remnants of the Delmonte:
huffpost
The single-story remnant of the 1898 Rindge Block is at left, the 1898 Douglas Building on the right:
gvs
The parking lot above was once the site of Jerry Illich's 1895 restaurant (below) replaced by the Delmonte by 1914, the year the Hosfield started to go up.
That's the Metropolitan Baths/Winchester Hotel on the left and the drive (now a gated walk) between Illich's and the Douglas on the right:
private collection previously posted by
GW, pg 675 in a much larger size
Detail of the Hosfield's southern lightwell:
ohp
The back (the 1898
Douglas on the left). Architects Train and Williams took full advantage of the eastern exposure a remnant of Frank Court offered:
gsv
More info on the Victor murals is
here
When Fort Street was residential. This circa 1881-1886 shot, looking north from W 3rd, shows the spire of the
First Presbyterian church on the SE corner of Fort and 2nd. The Hosfield will eventually be built among the trees just out of shot to the right:
lapl via
kcet
An even earlier photo, ca 1872-1880, shows the block pre-City Hall when the First Jewish Synagogue (1872) was the only non-residence on this block. Note St Vibiana's (1867) at 2nd and Main. The back of Harris Newmark's Kysor-designed house is at center:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality
ebay
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Our brand-new 1888 second City Hall with the
First Jewish Synagogue at left. In 26 years the Hosfield will be pressed tightly against City Hall's blank southern wall:
uscdl
1894. Fort Street, now Broadway, is residential no longer. The Bradbury has only been up a year. There's no sign of the Douglas yet (or the Rindge), but the Stimsom, also 1893, is in at the NE corner of Spring and 3rd. The First Congregational Church is in the foreground at 3rd and Hill; St Vibiana's, at 2nd and Main, is beyond City Hall. A bay-windowed, two-story commercial building has gone up south of City Hall to fill in the block. It won't last long:
water and power / larger version previously posted by
JScott, pg 674
A closer view of City Hall's new neighbor at Nos. 240-246, predecessor of the Hosfield. It will have a 20-year run. During three years of that time it was the 300-seat
Royal Theater in 1908 and 1909. It continued as the Cecil Theater (also listed as the Royal) in 1910 and 1911, managed by
Arthur Hyman:
losangelespast
A drawing of the Hosfield's place-holder, n.d., looking kind of dinky between City Hall and the 1898 Rindge Block:
lapl
The Hosfield's predecessor had a surprise in the back:
1894 Sanborn (detail) via
JScott
(For a deep history of the Natatorium see
Flyingwedge's updated post
here)
Another great photo of this block, at this time, is
here
1913. The year before the Hosfield went in there was a big fire on the block. It looks like the Byrne's burning (LAFD's Engine Company No. 23 must have been successful putting the fire out because the Byrne, AKA the Pan-American Building, doesn't look any the worse for wear these days). The 1898 Rindge Block is in place at right:
uscdl (detail)
1924. The Hosfield (at first called the Morse Building), six years after it was completed, looking very dignified between City Hall (now with a truncated tower) and the Rindge Block on a thronged Broadway:
uscdl (detail)
1925. A closer view of City Hall's shortened tower (it was lowered after being damaged in the 1918 earthquake). I like it better. The original was too bean-stalky for me.
Note the decorative trim atop the Hosfield's cornice (right) and its very nice entry marquee (too bad both weren't replaced,
but the Hosfield got a rehab, not a restoration):
lapl
1928. Workmen get busy revealing the Hosfield's north wall.
(no particular hurry lads, Kent Twitchell won't be born for another 14 years):
lapl
A remnant even a
norisher might have to turn down:
lapl
And we're back to where we started. Who would have thought that this modest, unassuming little building would turn into such a jazzy landmark?:
zillow (interior pix at link)